following breaking news, a tense waiting game waiting to see if israel will respond to the iranian attack and if it will plunge the region into potential chaos. we are also following the count down to a criminal trial, the first for american presidents, donald trump. 12 hours from his date with a manhattan court room.

more on that ahead. good to see you this evening. we want to begin with the latest in the follow-up from iran's unprecedented attack on israel. an emergency un security council meeting ending a few hours ago with no specific action but a clear watchword. restraint. >> all involved parties must move to the path of peace. >> we repeat our call to all actors in the region to show maximum restraint. >> japan is strongly urging the parties concerned to calm down and de-escalate the situation. >> it is vital that all parties exercise maximum restraint and refrain from any action that d may heighten tensions further in the region. >> so restraint is not something that israel is promising right now after a meeting of its war cabinet today and israeli officials telling nbc news while no final decisions have been made, quote, it is clear that israel will respond. the question is when and then

at what scale. the response following a direct attack in iran where more than 300 drones and ballistic missiles targeted israeli territories and israel hailing the success of its defense system. earlier today president biden convened a meeting of g7 leaders where they condemned the unprecedented attack against israel. president biden who has publicly reinforced the ironclad commitment to the defense of israel has privately expressed some concern that the israeli prime minister is trying to drag washington into a broader conflict according to three people that are familiar with this comment. we've been following the developments there. josh, walk us through the latest this hour. >> right now israel's government appears to be in a holding pattern and that is

actually good news as far as the us is concerned because there are real fears that israel could launch a fairly rash retaliation as early as last night sort of in the middle of this strike. that did not happen and we are seeing this global, diplomatic scramble to get all sides to cool down and not escalate things. there are signs now coming from israel that they are taking a deep breath before figuring out what to do. not only the work cabinet meeting ending without a firm decision on what kind of a response to proceed with, but in the last two hours we've seen israel's government relax some of the restrictions they had put in place in the immediate hours preceding that attack. the restrictions on school activities have been lifted, on gatherings of more than 1000 people. they have reopened, and so at this point, iran does not appear, from those indications,

that an attack is imminent but it doesn't mean they will not take action eventually. in fact, the israeli ambassador to the un urgently called a security council meeting today in new york and seemed to suggest something will be coming. take a listen. >> the regime thinks, they only think that israel is a frog in boiling water and that we are becoming accustomed to the threats on our survival and won't notice until it's too late . they are wrong. you are wrong. this attack crossed every red line and israel reserves the legal right to retaliate. we are not a fraud in boiling water. we are a nation of--. >> at the same meeting iran's envoy to the un says that was legitimate self-defense against the israeli airstrike in syria

a couple weeks ago and iran tonight are celebrating last night's strike as a victory and a success and that is creating some optimism that iran may feel that they have checked the box of responding, save face and everyone can now move on. >> often times when we see these images of protesters it does not necessarily represent the entire population of iran and the majority of people living in some of those more metropolitan cities like the capital. many supporters are often folks that are supporting the regime, the hard-line regime so it's important to keep that in contact-- in context when we are looking at some of these and images. thank you josh. appreciate it. we have new information. the pentagon revealing some updated numbers of us involvement in deterring last night's attacks. forces shutdown more than 80

drones and at least six ballistic missiles intended to strike israel from iran and yemen. the former supreme allied commander of nato and now chief international analyst to talk more about this. we been wanting to talk for the last 24 - 48 to say the least. what is your assessment on how israel will likely respond? it seems as if they are taking a pause and have allowed citizens in israel to resume some of those activities that they had halted for a bit. >> good signs. three things mitigate against a big israeli response. one is frankly the success that the israelis with the help of their allies as you just pointed out, had, in knocking down 300 incoming

drones, ballistic missiles. the second point >> literally across the spectrum internationally, a lot of pressure on israel so i think that's going to hopefully slow down the israeli response to the very good question of what will it look like? i don't think it's going to be a massive israeli response. i don't think we are going to see israeli jets flying across the skies of tehran. look for cyber or something going against irani and maritime assets. a very measured and calibrated

response. >> what i am hearing you say is interesting, which is the reason to which a ron give a heads up that these drones were headed in the direction of israel to give israel a moment to prepare for what was coming. and actually similarly, it happened back after the killing of so the money, the top general . the order was given when they were about to launch on a us base in iraq. do you expect the same from israel on this attack retaliation? >> no, i don't. for the simple reason that irani ends don't-- iranians don't want a wider war. if it widened, they would get militarily pummeled by the israelis and if the united states got dragged into it and in particular by the united states, iran has proxies, they have a lot of on the ground forces but their technology

simply does not match up to that of israel or the united states. they know they would be on the losing end of a really heavy campaign against them. from the israeli perspective, i think the smart move would be to have a calibrated response at this point, if at all and as president biden counseled them and i think it was good council, take the win. >> i have to play you what john bolton thinks the united states should be doing right now. >> flattening iran's air defense capabilities, next we might go after headquarters of the regular military and the revolutionary guards. you could consider going after their oil infrastructure. the oil fields, the distribution pipeline, the export port facilities.

and most importantly i think israel should be looking at this has an opportunity to destroy iran's nuclear weapons program which is the existentialist threat. >> it's been a long time he has been a war hawk lindsey graham is saying something similar as well. what do you make of what we are hearing? is this to be expected? >> i think this would be expected from that group of individuals and it would be a mistake at this point. down that path lies a wider regional war. once you kick open a door into war, you don't know what's in that room. it's a very dark room. and i think it would be a mistake on part of the israelis to go back high-end hard. it difficult to follow or difficult to predict, although

there would be some feel-good moment, i suppose, in doing that for israel, all that it would lead to is a massive wider war. it would be a mistake at this point for them to take that course of action. >> retired navy admiral, james stavridis. thank you. i want to bring in the former member of the cia senior intelligence service and author of clarity in crisis, leadership lessons from the cia. columnist at the daily beast and american resistance, how the deep state saved the nation. the last time we spoke we talked about the type of intelligence services inside the ground and the possibility of retaliation with a covert operation. i want to flip the deck and ask you the type of intelligence services that iran has inside of israel and what they are trying to gather. >> i am not as sanguine that

iran has that kind of coverage. clearly they have their assets with the proxies in the region including both hezbollah and hamas so they have some ability probably through palestinians who would enter into israel to gather intelligence. and i am not as concerned about iranian attacks inside of israel. when you talk about the worry of the future that would be the terrorist infrastructure for example, in europe or latin america. but inside of israel i think the israelis probably have that covered. >> i want to draw on something that you wrote talking about a possible response from israel and what would drive prime minister benjamin netanyahu. he has long been an extreme and their backing is not the only reason it has gotten more extreme. along israel's current emergency is in the prime minister's interest for a number of reasons. that is a disincentive for

netanyahu to embrace the kind of cooling off period with iran that is going to be a top priority for the us and international community. are you saying that netanyahu could make the decision to go further in this war to maintain power in israel because of the dissatisfaction domestically and around the world right now? >> well it's not just me saying this. i speak to a lot of israelis and a number of them felt the decision to go after the irg see leadership that was in damascus and to the consulate building was reckless because it could provoke this and this could spin out of control further. netanyahu needs a state of emergency to stay in power because the israeli people are extremely frustrated with his tenure as prime minister, his culpability for the events of october 7, the way he has managed the war in gaza, et cetera. so he has an incentive to keep

things on edge. having said that, i also think he has a lot of pressure from the international community and the united states to do just as admiral stavridis suggests which is take a deep breath. if he can be persuaded to, for now, take the win. what happened the other day and what happened yesterday was remarkable and the fact that 300 different kinds of drones and missiles were defeated and that there was no significant damage to israel, and that israel mobilized an alliance that included some of its regional neighbors, which in the past, it had been at war with. that is a huge turning point in the way things work in the middle east and it leaves iran quite isolated at this moment. >> it's interesting to me because we had intelligence suggesting they were going to retaliate after this attack on their top generals in syria.

we know the president repeatedly had said don't. don't do it. did anybody inside the administration that you've been speaking to actually think that iran was not going to respond to an attack like that? >> no, i think everyone thought they were going to respond, and i think some people if you ask them off the record would say that the manner in which iran responded, it wasn't responsible. it could have caused a lot of damage. but they were telegraphing their punches. they did give israel a chance to prepare, they did communicate to the united states through third- party intermediaries, they did say that they hope this would be the end of it. so they have acted with a degree of restraint even though the attack was really quite sweeping in its dramatic effect. that is an encouraging sign. and i think a lot of people

would hope that not only will israel act with restraint going forward but that perhaps we can move back to the kind of shadow conflict that israel and iran have been in for a long time, and lower the temperature so that we don't have the risk of a regional war. which is in the interest of absolutely no one. >> is there a fear now, david, that this could set back any ongoing negotiations currently happening when it comes to the war in gaza? and release of hostages, a potential two state solution? very far down the road it seems, at this point. >> i think it can distract from it and israel in some respects hope that it would distract from it but israel has also said they are planning to move forward with an operation in rafa rafah. the famine in gaza is still taking place and accelerating and the suffering needs to be addressed. and the suffering of

the hostages needs to be addressed. something that is a real source of tension between netanyahu and the israeli people. i think for a lot of reasons, turning attention back to some kind of cease-fire, getting the hostages back and setting us on a path, perhaps a long path toward a two state solution is precisely what is most needed in this case and a bigger conflict with iran is not needed, and in fact could hurt the interests of israel, iran, the allies in the region, the united states. >> i know that the cia work inside step and share a lot of intelligence. we talked about how they are preparing for this. how are intelligence officers in the cia preparing for a possible retaliation understanding what's happening inside of iran? >> sure. there's going to be

intelligence, we've had a lot of assets there already in theater but the shift was activating human intelligence networks, signals intelligence. we are going to be laser focused on listening to leadership, communications, military communications and then isr which is imagery and satellites and seeing the disposition of iranian forces. one of the things we will likely see in terms of israeli retaliation will be from intelligence services. this will take the temperature down because these would be things like they've done in the past. cyber attacks or perhaps assassinations. maybe a tax on infrastructure using surrogates but nothing that is going to cause any kind of overt iranian response. i think as david said before we are going back to the shadow of war and that is in everybody's interest. >> thank you both.

we will continue coverage of the eye run attack fallout but first, donald trump set to make history tomorrow as the first of his four criminal trials gets underway. a report from the courthouse next in 60 seconds. next in 60 seconds. the only migraine medication that helps treat and prevent, all in one. to those with migraine, i see you. for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura and the preventive treatment of episodic migraine in adults. don't take if allergic to nurtec odt. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. it's time we all shine. talk to a healthcare provider about nurtec odt from pfizer. she runs and plays like a puppy again. his #2s are perfect! he's a brand new dog, all in less than a year. when people switch their dog's food from kibble to the farmer's dog, they often say that it feels like magic. but there's no magic involved. (dog bark) it's simply fresh meat and vegetables, with all the nutrients dogs need— instead of dried pellets. just food made for the health of dogs.

delivered in packs portioned for your dog. it's amazing what real food can do. welcome back donald j trump has his last night of sleep before officially becoming the first former us president to stand trial as a criminal defendant. the first of four cases against the one-time commander-in-chief will get underway in a new york city criminal court when jury selection is expected to begin in trumps hush money trial. with more on the day ahead, msnbc's von hilliard. >> we are less than 24 hours away from the beginning of jury selection and what will be the first criminal trial for a former president of the united states. donald trump holding on saturday night a final campaign event in battleground pennsylvania in which he rallied against this criminal

trial that is about to begin against him. we are looking at a trial that lasts up to six weeks. as a criminal defendant he is required to be inside of that courtroom for the entirety of the trial which could last up to six weeks so that is where these campaign events like last night are critical for him where he is in control of the microphone and in control of the messaging because he is looking at a list of witnesses who the prosecution intes to bring against him including his own former aide, hope hicks, stormy daniels, and his own personal former lawyer michael cohen who is preparing to testify against him. this all has to do with the alleged scheme over the $130,000 payment that cohen made before the 2016 election and the reimbursement checks that were sent by donald trump to michael cohen to cover those costs. and the extent to which donald trump was aware of this scheme to silence stormy daniels story

of her alleged affair. this come with less than seven months until the general election here and looking at poll numbers showing donald trump and joe biden neck in neck around the country. in a new poll from just this weekend, it shows that the majority of americans including a majority of independence say that they take the charges against him in new york either very seriously or somewhat seriously so for donald trump, this is going to be a crucial moment. he was suggesting on friday to gabe gutierrez that he would potentially be willing to testify himself in his own defense but that would lead to the ability for prosecutors to cross-examine him. much is on the line not only legally but also politically. >> thank you for that. coming up i'm going to give you a deeper look at how we got here including all of the explosive

twists and turns. and danny cevallos will join me to break it down. plus, iran bracing for a potential counterstrike. how israel might react to a response. be right back. be right back. known for discovering new places. no one wants to be known for cancer, but a treatment can be. keytruda is known to treat cancer. fda-approved for 16 types of cancer, including certain early-stage and advanced cancers. one of those cancers is early-stage non—small cell lung cancer. keytruda may be used with certain chemotherapies before surgery when you have early-stage lung cancer, which can be removed by surgery, and then continued alone after surgery to help prevent your lung cancer from coming back. keytruda can cause your immune system to attack healthy parts of your body during or after treatment. this may be severe and lead to death. see your doctor right away if you have cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, diarrhea, severe stomach pain, severe nausea or vomiting, headache, light sensitivity, eye problems, irregular heartbeat, extreme tiredness,

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welcome back. an emergency session of the un security council ending today with no action but calls for restraint by israel in a potential retaliation against iran. ravi is the editor-in-chief of foreign policy. let's talk more about this. i want to talk about what's happening inside iran. iran is calling this justified retaliation at the un security council meeting today and i am also seeing this as a huge victory. what do you make of how they are spinning this especially domestically ask what i am hearing from folks on the ground is that there is real fear amongst citizens and there's a rush on gas amidst what could happen next.

>> the fear is real in part because they realize the escalation of last night is significant. this was the first direct attack from iran and iranian soil on israel and that has real consequences at this moment so i this moment israel is weighing how it wants to respond at the time of its choosing but with intensity of its choosing as well. as everyone is asking to take a breath, take the win, i think iranian leaders are going to be trying to take their win as well in as much as they are able to sell this as a domestic victory. they are going to try to spin this any which way they can in that they were able to own the skies for a night. you can see those images on the screen of their missiles and their drones heading towards israel in this first attack and they are going to hope that those scenes are seen at home. there were celebrations in

parts of iran of people celebrating that attack and celebrating the avenged mint, as it were from the iranian point of view of the killing of one of its top generals in damascus. the question is, if israel responds what happens next? no one really has control over that. >> i want to read from gregory, and iranian analyst and i want to get your take on what his assessment is of the situation. >> for what it's worth, i did not anticipate iran would use its own missiles, from within its own territory against israel directly. a major milestone and a sign of just how much pressure khamenei now feels to respond to attacks against irgc positions and says pressure notably from the irgc itself. what do you make of that assessment? >> khamenei is non- -- not in the strongest position. there's

protests, mounting die sent and of course khamenei needs to firm up his counsel and figure out who is going to replace him longer term. succession planning is underway so this is a sensitive moment and there have also been rumors about his own health. it is important for him to appear to be strong and that could be some of the reason he and-- reasoning behind the way that iran responded. what is still unclear is the way in which iran retaliated by sending drones first which were shot down. ballistic and cruising missiles, and the fact that 99% of them were shot down whether it had any inkling that it would be the outcome and whether that is the outcome that it wanted or that it wanted to send a message, dangerous, reckless, crazy out of it is, they wanted to send a message that would be fended

off or genuinely wanted to cause immense pain and suffering in israel. it is pretty hard to read them so whatever the role of the dice was it is incredibly risky. and it goes to show that iran not only from the april 1 attack but there was another in december in which another irgc leader was killed. so clearly there are vulnerabilities being exploited and exposed. >> to draw on those vulnerabilities i've been thinking a lot about this recently. after the death and the internal strife happening in all the protests domestically there and amongst the diaspora throughout the world, you think about next steps. i am wondering if the regime understands and appreciates of the vulnerability, the vulnerable position that they are currently in with the world watching and knowing how unhappy and dissatisfied their country is with them.

>> they are saying this is not a democracy. they also have allies in the form of russia and china. they know that in advancing a proxy war across the region and by playing up israel's unpopularity by being seen as the country that is standing up to israel, they are also feeding off of the worst instincts in the worst possible way. >> i don't mean to step in but if a war hawk like prime minister benjamin's and yahoo sees that, what is happening domestically in iran for him, as an opening? >> he may well, and that's part of the challenge. of course as a guest on your show was saying a few minutes ago, this is not to his disadvantage in the sense, dragging this out, this particular, last night incident out, or the conflict in gaza,

means he stays in power. he as well as vulnerable at home and immense protests have picked up over the last month so we are looking at two countries that are seemingly in open conflict, both of which have leaders that are on shaky territory. and frankly for the rest of us around the world this is an incredibly tense moment. >> ravi agrawal, thank you. we condemned the iranian attack. it is great to actually see bipartisan leadership from across the aisle saying that. >> clearly israel has been attacked by iran and we and others including the president have said israel has the right to protect itself. >> i think it demonstrates how it is astonishing that we are not standing firmly with israel and there should never be any kinds of conditions. >> what is important right now is that we stand with israel. it's never been more important to be there with them and we

have resolved to do that. >> you are seeing lawmakers on both sides of the aisle reacting to the unprecedented attack on israel and the potential for their response. the president speaking to the big four congressional leaders in a phone call this afternoon. the white house has been pushing congress to pass a foreign aid package. speaker mike johnson says he's working on putting something on the house floor and the white house holding a virtual meeting earlier today with leaders in g7 countries were they condemned airstrikes and reaffirmed the commitment to israel's security. we want to bring in praetor-- peter nicholas to talk more about this. and my understanding that the president personally congratulated the fighter squadrons directly involved with defending israel? what more can you tell us about that? >> his remarks seemed very genuine and heartfelt and let's remember that this is a president who feels a personal attachment to members of the military. typically he ends the his speeches by saying may god

protect our troops and there's a reason for that. his son served in iraq and later died tragically, so he has a particular kinship and is proud of the success here. but it's also a good moment for him as commander-in-chief. the us helped israel avert major damage. let's not forget the domestic political context here. biden is up for reelection and it certainly helps cement his-- as commander-in-chief. >> can you tell me how the administration planned to deal with this conflict depending on which way it goes in the coming days? >> the white house has one objective and that is calm. the last thing joe biden wants to see is what started as a war between hamas and israel escalate into a regional crisis. we can forget once again the domestic political context. this is election season and biden has a tough road so he has no problems convincing voters that the economy has actually improved on his watch. he's running against donald

trump, biden has painted himself as a shrewd foreign-policy strategist, and if tensions get worse, independent voters may decide that trump would be a better bet. >> we do have a portion of the sound that the president did in fact send too many of these fighters. i want to take a listen if we can for a moment. >> just incredible. i apologize for my enthusiasm. i'm supposed to be much more-- a >> not at all, sir. proud to be an american. >> you make me proud and i'm not just saying that. i swear to god, your incredible. >> thank you, mister president. >> keep it going, stay safe, man. >> that was a president sending messages to squadrons directly involved in defending israel from the airstrikes. thank you and we appreciate it. some 6000 new yorkers called to a manhattan courthouse for jury

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tomorrow morning i'm going to be outside a manhattan court room from a day that will make history. donald trump will become the first former american president to face if terminal trial. coming up next and going to take you through the key moments that lead to all of this. we will be right back.

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pled guilty to 8 counts in manhattan federal court. he alleged in a court of law that donald trump directed him to make illegal payments to influence the 2016 election. >> he worked to pay money to silence two women who had information that he believed would be detrimental to the 2016 campaign. >> those women, at adult film store stormy daniels and karen mcdougall were at the center of hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election. >> women, and even more women like me matter. >> he paid $130,000 to stormy daniels and mcdougall got $150,000 from the national enquirer, a deal that trumps fixer said he orchestrated himself on behalf of donald trump and the organization. donald trump and the organization deny those allegations. >> do you know about the payments to stormy daniels? >> a manhattan district

attorney began investigating and eventually subpoenaed eight years of tax returns. the fight went all the way to the supreme court before the documents were obtained in 2021. >> a manhattan district attorney is in possession of former president donald trump's tax returns? a >> in the next month prosecutors turned their sights on allen weisselberg, the trump organization cfo. >> this guy is the ultimate service provider. he's been working for the trump family for decades. if you crack these service providers you can crack the case. >> when he refused to testify against the former president prosecutors announced charges against the trump organization and the cfo who both plead not guilty. >> 15 counts from a range of charges from larceny to tax evasion to falsifying records and it shows the da meant business during his multi-year probe. >> in january 2022 a new manhattan da alvin bragg is sworn in with speculation over whether he will pursue charges

but on april 7 he releases a statement saying in part the investigation continues. in august 2022 he pleads guilty and agrees to testify against the trump organization. four months later the trump organization is convicted, found guilty of tax fraud and eventually alvin bragg calls a new grand jury. >> we finally got answers on the political, financial, legal, moral, public corruption scandal. >> and in march 2023 trump posts of an imminent arrest on truth social. while the arrest on that day did not happen, on march 30, 2023 mister trump was indicted on 34 counts. days later in a manhattan courthouse, he was arraigned. he has pled not guilty. >> charging a former president of the united states for the first time in history on a basis that every single pundit and legal analyst said there is no case. there's no case.

>> i want to bring in danny cevallos, criminal defense attorney and legal analyst to talk about what we can expect. tomorrow is a really big day in the history of this country when you see a former president is in criminal charges. the former president is going to be in court every single day with a jury selection beginning tomorrow. we took a look at some of the questions. what stood out to me was how it seemed less politicized then in judge kaplan's questionnaire. i say that because one of the questions on the questionnaire was do you believe the election was stolen? none of that showed up on this but they did ask, for instance, where do you get your news from? what publications or news channels? the new york post, msn, msnbc? cnn? and then they go on. do you listen to any podcasts?

which ones? do you listen to talk radio? so they are not asking directly who do you support but they can feasibly deduce by this questionnaire. >> the judge has made it really clear in this case to the litigants that asking about political affiliation should not be part of this jury selection but let's face it. these questions are going to yield that kind of information. the judge says who someone voted for doesn't make them qualified or unqualified as a juror but even the judge himself said in a letter to both parties, you're going to be able to tell from some of these answers. if you ask a potential juror have you ever been a member of and to file or the proud boys? the answer to that question is going to give you a couple of ideas about their political leanings. so this is obviously an issue in this case. the judge in this case is just excluding it from the jury questionnaire. what's more interesting is in new york, the jury selection

process is different than most other jurisdictions especially federal practice. in federal jury selection it feels like lawyers are barely involved. we don't talk unless the judge gives us the opportunity but in new york it is quite different. the lawyers question the jurors themselves and often in civil cases without the judges being in the room. but here the judge has said he is going to be watching the very closely to make sure they stay within bounds. you've got some wildcards at the defense table especially the defendant himself. so jury selection will be really interesting in a jurisdiction that has an interesting process. >> how long do you think jury selection will take? >> i think it will take at least two weeks. >> do you think we are underestimating the time? >> the classic lawyer moved. when the judge says how long for the case? we estimate high because we don't want to anger the judge so i am estimating, i'm taking the over instead of the under

and saying two weeks because of all of the additional procedural complexities and you have been down there. you've seen what a mess it can be. >> total mess. >> and ordinary procedures maybe this is the kind of case that would take a day to seat a jury but they are going to go through maybe hundreds of jurors more than they normally would because of the sensitivity of this particular defendant. i know that the judge has said political leanings should not matter and it should not, but it probably will. there will be many jurors right off the bat who will say i have too strong of a feeling for or against this particular defendant. and another thing they need to look out for, normally people are trying to get out of jury duty or-- jury duty but stealth jurors are the ones that want to get on the jury-- >> telling you what you want to hear. >> they will tell the judge and lawyers what they want to hear to appeal neutral but it's for most arguably--

>> it benefits trump to draw out the jury selection process? >> even doing that would give them an extra day or two. if that matters to them really- - >> we think about the passover holiday because they will be taking off which begins next week so if we are looking at a two week timeline it means we aren't even getting started with the trial until three weeks from now. >> they are not even working full weeks so jury selection could take, i mean two weeks has them sitting here talking about it maybe add on a few more days. with a case like this you never know what can happen procedurally. even something as simple as the defendant taking a restroom break. you've seen it, it's chaos. this is going to be chaotic and new york state jury selection process which allows lawyers to actually talk to the jurors, we use that as an opportunity to kind of educate jurors about our views of the case on the fly. it is really a technique but

the judge is going to be watching. the judge is going to be watching for that but at the same time this is going to be a really interesting process. in a jurisdiction that has interesting jury selection to begin with. >> so michael cohen-- wait, let me play some sound before you go down that road. >> you see, one of the things that donald and his legal team are trying to do is, every day, to discredit me. they think that that is a winning strategy for getting an overturn of whatever conviction that the jury may or may not determine. that's not the way you run a trial. have your own defense. the defense is not to attack the witness but that's what they think is going to be the successful result for them. >> they see him as a vulnerability.

they see him as a vulnerable witness. >> the state will just say the documents speak for themselves. he may have credibility issues but he's mostly going to be authenticating and laying the foundation for documents and the government will say i presume, documents don't lie. >> danny cevallos, there you have it. uni for the next who knows how long. thank you. that is all the time we have for this hour. thank you for spending your sunday night with me. i'm going to be covering the start of the trial tomorrow as part of special coverage starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern, with andrea mitchell, chris johnson, a whole lineup picking up coverage throughout the afternoon. up next, a special preview of this historic trial after a very short break. re not at ris? wake up.

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